Siranush Sahakyan during a panel discussion moderated by Annie Bedian

LOS ANGELES—At the invitation of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Western United States Central Committee, human rights attorney Siranush Sahakyan is in the Los Angeles area this week to advance the legal and political fight for Armenian hostages held in Baku and for the forcibly displaced people of Artsakh.

Sahakyan, Executive Director of the Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights and counsel for Armenian detainees before the European Court of Human Rights, came to L.A. after keynoting the Armenian National Committee of America’s Capitol Hill program marking three years since Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. Her Los Angeles program has paired community briefing with civic advocacy and outreach to the next generation, with further public programs still ahead.

Town Hall in Burbank
Community members filled the ACF Beshir Mardirossian Youth Center in Burbank on September 22 for a town hall sponsored by the ARF Western United States. Master of Ceremonies Annie Bedian opened the program. Levon Baronian, Representative of the ARF Western United States Central Committee, delivered welcoming remarks on behalf of the organization.

Baronian thanked Sahakyan for her work in defense of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan, including the political and military leadership of Artsakh, and set the Party’s message in clear terms: “Artsakh exists.” That affirmation, he stressed, cannot remain a slogan. It is a daily obligation to work for the freedom of the prisoners, defend the rights of the people of Artsakh, keep the right of return on the national agenda, and ensure that forced displacement does not erase a people’s connection to its homeland.

He said the Diaspora’s institutions exist to serve the Armenian people, not merely to preserve themselves, and that this duty has grown heavier as the government of Armenia has treated the Artsakh question as closed. “When official Armenia retreats from the Artsakh issue,” Baronian said, “the responsibility of the Diaspora and its institutions becomes greater, and our efforts must be doubled and tripled.”

He pointed to ongoing ARS and Homenetmen efforts for displaced Artsakh families, school visits arranged through Central Committee coordination, Sunday’s fundraising program for the legal defense of the hostages, and an AYF Western United States-led rally in Glendale on November 8 under the same banner: the Artsakh issue is not closed. Artsakh exists.

Sahakyan then delivered a detailed briefing on international and regional legal avenues being pursued on behalf of the hostages, including cases before the European Court of Human Rights.

She addressed the conditions confronting Armenian detainees, the broader pursuit of accountability, and the continuing legal struggle to protect the rights of the people of Artsakh, including those forcibly displaced from their homeland. A substantive question-and-answer session followed.

The program concluded with blessing remarks by His Eminence Archbishop Barkev Martirosyan, the longtime former Primate of the Artsakh Diocese.

Civic and Institutional Meetings
Earlier on Tuesday, Sahakyan met with Representative Laura Friedman (CA-30), accompanied by ANCA Western Region Board Member Lara Yeretsian, Esq., ANCA-WR Executive Director Ruben Karabetian, and community member Andranik Aboyan. The delegation pressed the urgency of the Armenian hostages held in Baku, the rights of forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians, and the need for continued U.S. engagement.

That same day she met with Glendale Mayor Ardy Ardashes Kassakhian before addressing the Glendale City Council on the plight of the hostages. Mayor Kassakhian welcomed Sahakyan, expressed the City’s deep concern for Armenians facing persecution in Azerbaijani prisons, and reaffirmed Glendale’s support for their immediate release and for the right of forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians to return to their homeland. Sahakyan outlined the advocacy underway before the European Court of Human Rights. Councilmember Elen Asatryan likewise affirmed the City’s support for the Armenian Legal Center’s efforts.

On Monday, September 21, Sahakyan visited the Armenian American Museum, where Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian hosted the delegation and led a tour of the Museum’s future home. The visit included discussion of Artsakh’s history and the experiences of its people. Sahakyan was accompanied by ALC Board members Steven Dadaian, Esq., and Armen Hovannisian, Esq., who also serves on the Museum’s Board of Trustees as a representative of the Armenian Cultural Foundation.

Schools and the week ahead
On Wednesday, September 23, Sahakyan visited Vahan and Anoush Chamlian Armenian School, meeting students as part of a Central Committee-coordinated school itinerary designed to keep Artsakh present in the consciousness of the next generation. Visits to Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School and Holy Martyrs Ferrahian High School are scheduled for Thursday, with AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School on Friday.

Also on Thursday evening, September 24, at 5:30 p.m., Sahakyan will present “An Insider’s View: Unpacking Azerbaijan’s Cases against Armenian Civilian Leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh” at UCLA School of Law, Room 1347. The program is hosted by the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Law and co-sponsored by the Armenian Bar Association, the Armenian Legal Center, the Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA, UCLA’s Armenian Law Students’ Association, and the ANCA Western Region. Admission is free; registration is requested. The event will also be available via Zoom.

On Sunday, September 27, at 5 p.m., a “Bring Them Home” fundraising evening will be held at the Glendale Youth Center, 211 W. Chestnut Ave., in support of the legal fund defending Armenian hostages imprisoned in Baku. Sahakyan will be the featured guest.

Legal Backdrop
Sahakyan’s Los Angeles appearances come as her international caseload intensifies. Last month she submitted a collective application to the European Court of Human Rights concerning violations of the rights of fifteen Armenians held in Azerbaijan, including former political and military leaders of Artsakh, following a separate application in the case of former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, sentenced to 20 years after proceedings she has described as fundamentally illegitimate. She has warned that the prisoners are held in conditions of “absolute isolation,” without physical access to relatives, independent doctors or attorneys, consular representatives, or the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Armenian Legal Center has reiterated its commitment to every available legal avenue for freedom, justice, accountability, and the right of the people of Artsakh to return to their homeland. For the ARF Western United States Central Committee, the week’s message remains the one delivered from the Burbank podium: Artsakh exists, and as long as the rights of its people, their right of return, and the fate of the prisoners remain unresolved, so does the Diaspora’s responsibility.